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' (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. H. GRONINGER & J. P. JACOBS.

RAILROAD GATE.

(No Model.) 48heets-Sheet 2.

WE. GRONINGER & J. F. JACOBS.

RAILROAD GATE.

No, 344,371. Patented June 29, a

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. W. H. GRONINGE-R & J. P. JACOBS.

- RAILROAD GATE. No. 344,374., Patented June 29, 1886.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. W. H. G RONING-ER & J. PQJAGOBS.

RAILROAD GATE. v

No. 344.371. Patented June 29, 1886.

WITNESSES! i v fikvww 9 UNITED STATES PATENT EEicE.

WILLIAM GRONINGER AND JOHN F. JACOBS, OF PORT ROYAL, PA.

RAILROAD-GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 344,371, dated June 29,1886, Application filed August 13, 1885. Serial No. 174,801. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, XVILLIAM H. GRONIN- GER and JOHN F. J ACOBS,citizens ofthe United States, residing at Port Royal, in the county ofJuniata and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Railroad-Gates; and we do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to automatic gates for railroad-crossings, andhas for its object to simplify and cheapen the construction, and rendermore positive and efficient in operation the devices bywhich such gatesare worked; and to these ends and to such others as the invention maypromote it consists in the peculiar combination and the novelconstruction and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter more fullydescribed, and specifically defined by the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification,Figure 1 represents a section of a railroad and crossing provided withmy improvements. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a section of track,showing the gates opened. Fig. 3 is a perspective detail showing one ofthe gates extended. Fig. 4 is a detail showing the mechanism foroperating the valve. Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating thepreferred way of keeping the cylinder supplied with compressed air.

lVhile our invention, with slight changes, may be applicable todanger-signals, blocksignals, and station-alarms, as well as to gates,for the sake of convenience we have shown it in the drawings as appliedto gates only, and shall so refer to it in the following description;and while the motive power may be steam, water, or other suitableequivalent, we prefer compressed air, and shall confine our descriptionto it; but we wish it distinctly understood that in the following claimswe do not intend to limit ourselves to compressed air.

Referring to the drawings, the letterA designates, a suitable tank orreservoir arranged the necessary distance, say, an eighth of a mile froma railroad-crossing, and provided with the air-gage a. This tank issupplied with compressed air in the following manner: Along one side ofthe track is placed a suitable frame, B. Oisa crankshaftjournaled insaid frame, and carrying at one end a fly-wheel, D, and near the other acog-wheel, b. E is another shaft journaled in said frame, and carryingat one end a cog-wheel, F, meshing with the wheel I), and at the otherend a small cogwheel, 0, similar to the wheel I). Still another shaft,G, is journaled in the frame, and carries at one end a cog-wheel, (Z,meshing with the wheel a 011 the shaft E. This latter shaft G isextended past the frame on the side adjacent to the track 0, as shown,and 011 that end is secured a ratchetwheel, H. I is a le ver pivoted at1 to a block, f, secured to the side rail of the frame B, and g is apivoted pawl carried by said lever, and adapted to engage saidratchet-wheel, for the purpose here inafter described. h is a pawlpivoted to the frame B, and engaging the ratchet-wheel to prevent backmotion thereof. J is a pumpbarrel, and i is the piston-rod, to which thepiston (not shown) is attached. The opposite end of this red is securedto the crankshaft O, and has a reciprocating motion imparted theretofrom said shaft.

Normally, the lever I is elevated, and is in the path of the wheel of apassing train. This lever is moved by the passing wheels, and the pawl racts 011 the ratchetwheel and rotates it, together with its shaft, inthe direction of the arrow. To overcome the inertia and allow time forthe wheels (I, c, F, and b to move without injury to any of them, owingto the sudden rotation of the shaft G, I loosely mount the wheel (Z onits shaft, and connect with said wheel one end of a spiral spring, K,which encircles the shaft and has its opposite end fastened thereto nearthe ratchet-wheel; or the wheel (I may be made fast to the shaft and theratchet-wheel left loose thereon, in which case one end of the springshould be made fast to the ratchetwheelinstead of the wheel (I. Apipe',j, leading from the pump to the reservoir, provides for the conveyanceof the compressed air to said reservoir.

Instead of the mechanism just described,

ICO

the reservoir may be supplied by any known means-as,for instance,by ahand wind-pump, steam, water, or any suitable power.

The devices for operating the gates are as follows: 76 is a pipe leadingfrom the reservoir and passing under the rails, as shown. L is a rollerarranged to be operated by the wheels of a passing train. I is a rodsecured to said roller, and passing loosely through the bracket m andbrace-plate n. The lower end of this rod carries a valve (not shown, asany wellknown form of check-valve may be used) arranged inside thesupply-pipe k. M is a spiml spring surrounding said rod between theplate a and the top of the bracket, which normally keeps the roller inthe position shown in Fig. 4. From this point the pipe passes across thetrack at suitable distance therefrom, and then connects with thecylinder N. A are the gate-posts. B are rods passing vertically througharms extending from the top and bottom of each of said posts. 0 is apiston-rod carried by said rod 13, and operating a piston (not shown)within the cylinder N. O is a gate formed of slats pivotally connectedtogether lazy-tongs fashion. The upper inner end of the gate ispivotally connected to a block, 0, supported by a rod, 1), while thelower end is-pivoted to a weight, Q, loosely sleeved on said rod, andfree to slide thereon. P is a shield protecting the outer end of thegate, and preventing the same from injury when extended, and alsoserving to protect the gate when not extended, as will be readilyunderstood. R is a rod extending from the rod B, through a slot in thegate-post, andits free end connected to the weight Q by a chain or cord,q. S is a spring-bar connected to the block 0, and passed looselythrough a keeper on the top of the gate-post. The object of this springis to allow the gate to yield in case it should close on a vehicle, andbe drawn away thereby. As soon as the said vehicle is disengaged fromthe gate the spring draws it back to its normal position-that is, atright angles to the gate-post. The other gate may be operated in thesame way, as shown in Fig. 2; or it, or both of them, may be operated bymechanism illustrated at the right of Fig. 1, which is the same as thatjust described, except that a spring, T, is substituted for the weightQ.

It will be observed that in the operation of the gate, its inner andouter ends relatively approach and recede from each other. Theconnection of the inner lower end with the vertically-movable weight orblock sliding on the rod 1), permits of such movement of the inner endsof the gates, while the upper outer end is connected to avertically-sliding rod, p,which moves in and out of theshield,ac'cording to the direction and movement of the gate, as will bereadily understood.

From the foregoing description the operation will be apparent. The gatesare normally in the position shown in Fig. 2. As the train reaches theroller L the wheels depress the same, together with the rod Z,whichopens the valve in the pipe k. As soon as this valve is opened thecompressed air. in the reservoir flows through said pipe into thecylinder N, beneath the piston therein, which at this time is at thebottom of the cylinder. As air enters the cylinderit forces the pistonupward. This upward movement of the piston lifts the rod B, and throughthe connection with the gate lifts the weight, which, sliding on the rod1), forces the gate outward across the roadway, as shown in Fig. 3. Apipe, 70, leads to the cylinder of the other gate, so that as the valvein the pipe is is opened air flows to the two cylinders simultaneously.Consequently the two gates are extended at the same time into theposition shown in Fig. 1. The valve-opener should be placed at aboutone-eighth of a mile from the crossing, so as to insure the closing ofthe passage-way before the arrival of the train. The gates remain in theposition shown in Fig. 1 until the train reaches the crossing, wherethere is arranged a valve-opener, X, similar to that before described inconnection with the pipe k. As the train passesover the opener a valveis opened in the pipe r,to allow the air in' the cylinder N and thepipes connected therewith to be exhausted, when the weight Q or springT, whichever the case may he, draws the gate back into its normalposition, and thus leaves the street open to travel.

Where double tracks are used, the gate may be arranged between thetracks and two cylinders provided, the piston-rod of each cylinder beingconnected to and operated by the rod B, as shown in Fig. 2, it being, ofcourse, understood that the cylinders are both provided with pipes k k,&c.

When used on a single track, the pipes, valve-opener, 820., are arrangedon the opposite side of the track also, so that the gates may beoperated ,no matter in which direction the train is moving, theprinciple being the samein all cases. To allow for the contraction andexpansion of the various pipes, loops are formed therein at statedintervals, as indicated in Fig. 1 at z". I

We do not intend to limit ourselves to the exact construction shown anddescribed, as it is evident that the same may be varied to a certainextent without departing from the spirit of our invention. For instance,both the ratchetwheel H and the cog-wheel (i may be loose upon the shaftG, and the two connected by the spiral spring, and still accomplish thesame result; and other changes of a like nature may be made at theconvenience or option of the manufacturer and still retain the mainfeatures of our invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the lazy-tongs gate,

- of a laterally-yielding support pivotally connected with its innerupper end, of an operatingrod connected with the inner lower end toproject the gate across the roadway, and a weight connected with saidlower end of the gate to force it away from the upper end and retractthe gate, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the lazy-tongs gate pivotally supported at itsinner upper end, a rod, a weight loosely mounted thereon and pivotallyconnected with the inner lower end of the gate, a cylinder, intermediateconnections uniting the piston of the cylinder with the inner lower endof the gate, and a rod actuated by the passing train to supply a powermedium to the cylinder, substantially as set forth.

3. The combinatiomwith the gate-post, of the support 0, secured theretoto yield laterally, a gate pivotally connected with the support at itsinner upper end, and a spring-bar fixidly connected to the support andpassed loosely through a keeper in the post to normally hold the gate ina fixed position and permit it to yield laterally, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

4. The combination,with the lazy-tongs gate, of a shield pivotallyattached to its outer lower end and a vertically-sliding rod connectingthe outer upper end ofthe shield with the outer upper end of the gate,said shield forming a protection for the gate when the latter is foldedand for the sliding rod when it is projected, substantially as shown.

5. The combination, with the reservoir A, acylinder, N, gate 0, andgate-operating mechanism, as described, of the pipe k, connecting saidcylinder and reservoir, and the roller L, carrying rod Z, adapted to bedepressed by the wheels of a passing train to open a valve in said pipe,as set forth.

6. The combination, with the reservoir A, cylinder N, gate 0, andgate-operating mechanism, as described, of the pipe k, connectingsaidcylinder and reservoir, the roller L, carrying rod Z, depressed bythe wheels of a passing train to open a valve in said pipe, and thespring M, surrounding said rod, substantially as and for the purposesspecified.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

WVM. H. GRON IN GER. JOHN F. J AOOBS.

Vitnesses:

E. BRUCE CRESSMAN, GEO. S. MoOURDY.

